Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Today we underline the emerging idea that there is only the Bodhisattva teaching and everyone will in time become a Buddha.

The chapter begins with Purna, who is considered to be foremost in expounding the Dharma among Sakyamuni’s top disciples. He will be foremost in expounding the Dharma many times again in the future. More to today’s point, he is not your ordinary sravaka:

Although he had the supernatural powers of Bodhisattvas, he performed brahma practices throughout his previous existence. Therefore, the people of the world of the Buddha under whom he performed brahma practices] thought that he was a Sravaka. He benefited many hundreds of thousands of living beings with this expedient, and also caused innumerable, asamkhya people to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

To make the point clearer:

He will always make efforts to teach all living beings strenuously so that the worlds of those Buddhas may be purified. He will perform the Way of Bodhisattvas step by step for innumerable, asamkhya kalpas, and then attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi in this world.

And in gathas:

Bhiksus, listen to me attentively!
The Way practiced by my sons
Is beyond your comprehension
Because they learned how to employ expedients.

Knowing that people wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
And that they are afraid of having the great wisdom,
[My sons, that is,] the Bodhisattvas transform themselves
Into Sravakas or cause-knowers,
And teach the people with innumerable expedients.

Saying to the innumerable living beings, [for instance,]
“We are Sravakas.
We are far from the enlightenment of the Buddha,”
They save them, and cause them to attain [Sravakahood]
Even the lazy people who wish to hear the Lesser Vehicle
Will become Buddhas with this expedient in the course of time.

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Sravakas.
They are purifying my world
Though they pretend to want little
And to shun birth-and-death.
In the presence of the people,
They pretend to have the three poisons and wrong views.
They save them with these expedients.
They change themselves into various forms.
If I speak of all their transformations,
The listeners will doubt me.

Underline My sons, that is, the Bodhisattvas transform themselves into Sravakas or cause-knowers, and teach the people with innumerable expedients. We’ll come back to this in later chapters.

But back in this chapter, we have assurances of future Buddhahood for “these 1,200 Arhats” and in particular Kaundinya Bhiksu.

The others of the five hundred Arhats, including Uruvilva-Kasyapa, Gaya-Kasyapa, Nadi-Kasyapa, Kalodayin, Udayin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphina, Bakkula, Cunda, and Svagata, also will attain Anuttara-samyak-samodhi, and become Buddhas also called Universal-Brightness.

With everyone dancing for joy with the news, we come to the Parable of the Priceless, in which a rich man sews a priceless gem into a friend’s garment while he sleeps. When he awakens he moves on, struggling to find food and shelter, satisfying himself with what work he can find, because he does not know he has this gem.

The point: These Arhats realize they forgot that in past lives the Buddha had instructed them on attaining Anuttara-samyak-samodhi.

World-Honored One! Now we see that we are Bodhisattvas in reality, and that we are assured of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Therefore, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.

And in gathas:

We are like the poor man.
In the long night you taught us
Out of your compassion towards us,
And caused us to aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

Because we had no wisdom, we did not notice that.
The Nirvana we attained was only part [of your wisdom].
Satisfying ourselves with it,
We did not wish to attain anything more.

Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”

Hearing from you that we are assured
Of becoming Buddhas one after another,
And that our worlds will be adorned,
We are joyful in body and mind.

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathagata “turned the wheel of the teaching [of the four truths] three times, making twelve proclamations altogether.”

The Buddha said, ‘This is suffering. This is the cause of suffering. This is extinction of suffering. This is the Way to extinction of suffering.’

Then he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, saying, ‘Ignorance causes predisposition. Predisposition causes consciousness. Consciousness causes name-and-form. Name-and-form causes the six sense organs. The six sense organs cause impression. Impression causes feeling. Feeling causes craving. Craving causes grasping. Grasping causes existence. Existence causes birth. Birth causes aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. When ignorance is eliminated, predisposition is eliminated. When predisposition is eliminated, consciousness is eliminated. When consciousness is eliminated, name-and-form is eliminated. When name-and-form is eliminated, the six sense organs are eliminated. When the six sense organs are eliminated, impression is eliminated. When impression is eliminated, feeling is eliminated. When feeling is eliminated, craving is eliminated. When craving is eliminated, grasping is eliminated. When grasping is eliminated, existence is eliminated. When existence is eliminated, birth is eliminated. When birth is eliminated, aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation are eliminated.’

And in gathas:

Assenting to their appeal,
The World-Honored One of Immeasurable Wisdom
Expounded the various teachings, that is,
The four truths and the twelve causes, saying:
“All the causes, from ignorance to aging-and-death,
Rise one after another.
You should know
All these illusions.”

While that was fine and good and helped a lot of people become Sravakas, it wasn’t enough for the 16 princes, who had renounced the world and become sramaneras:

They said to the Buddha simultaneously, ‘World-Honored One! All these Sravakas of great virtue, many thousands of billions in number, have already done [what they should do]. World-Honored One! Expound to us the teaching of Anuttara-samyak-sarμbodhi! If we hear that teaching, we will study and practice it. World-Honored One! We wish to have the insight of the Tathagata. You know what we have deep in our minds.’

The Buddha agreed but it was 20,000 kalpas before he expounded “the sutra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ ” and it took 8,000 kalpas to finish the sutra without rest. When he finished he retired to a quiet place for contemplation and didn’t move again for 84,000 kalpas.

Seeing him practicing dhyana-concentration quietly in the room, the sixteen Bodhisattva-sramaneras each sat on a seat of the Dharma, expounded the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees for eighty-four thousand kalpas, and saved six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. They showed them the Way, taught them, benefited them, caused them to rejoice and to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.

The important part here is the relationship between the Bodhisattva-sramaneras and those they teach.

These sixteen Bodhisattvas willingly expounded the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Each of them taught six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those living beings were always accompanied by the Bodhisattva[, by whom they were taught,] in their consecutive existences. [In each of their consecutive existences,] they heard the Dharma from him, and understood it by faith. By the merits [they had thus accumulated], they were given a privilege to see four billion Buddhas, that is, four billion World-Honored Ones. They have not yet seen all of them.

Bhiksus! Now I will tell you. The sixteen sramaneras, who were the disciples of that Buddha, have already attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They now expound the Dharma in the worlds of the ten quarters. They have many hundreds of thousands of billions of attendants consisting of Bodhisattvas and Sravakas.

The 16th prince in that very distant past was Sakjamuni, who “attained Anuttara-samyak-sarnbodhi in this Saha-World.”

Those living beings who followed me, heard the Dharma from me in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Some of them are still in Sravakahood. I now teach them the Way to Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They will be able to enter the Way to Buddhahood by my teaching, but not immediately because the wisdom of the Tathagata is difficult to believe and difficult to understand. Those living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, whom I taught [ when I was a sramanera], included you bhiksus and those who will be reborn as my disciples in Sravakahood after my extinction.

And in gathas:

I was one of the sixteen sramaneras.
You were among those to whom I expounded the Dharma.
Therefore, I now lead you with expedients
To the wisdom of the Buddha.
Because I taught you in my previous existence,
I expound the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
In order to lead you into the Way to Buddhahood.
Think it over! Do not be surprised! Do not be afraid!

At this point we get to the Parable of the Magic City. Again we see references to our timidness prompting expedient teachings needed to keep us moving forward.

I, the Tathagata, am like the leader. I am your great leader. I know that the bad road, which is made of birth-and-death and illusions, is dangerous and long, and that we should pass through it and get off it. If you had heard only of the One Vehicle of the Buddha, you would not have wished to see or approach the Buddha, but would have thought, ‘The Way to Buddhahood is too long for us to pass through unless we make painstaking efforts for a long time.’

I knew that you were mean and timid. In order to give you a rest halfway, I expounded expediently to you the teaching of Nirvana by the two vehicles. To those who attained the two [vehicles], I say, ‘You have not yet done all that you should do. You are near the wisdom of the Buddha. Think it over and consider it! The Nirvana you attained is not true. I divided the One Vehicle of the Buddha into three only expediently.’

I say this just as the leader, who saw that his party had had a rest in the great city which he had made by magic in order to give them a rest, said to them, ‘The place of treasures is near. This city was not true. I made it by magic.’

And in gathas:

I am like the leader.
I am the leader of all living beings.
I saw that halfway some got tired
With the seeking of enlightenment,
And that they could not pass through the dangerous road
Of birth-and-death and illusions.
Therefore, I expounded to them the teaching of Nirvana
As an expedient to give them a rest, saying:
“You have already eliminated sufferings.
You have done everything you should do.”

Now I see that they have already attained Nirvana
And that they have become Arhats.
Therefore, I now collect the great multitude,
And expound to them the true teaching.

The Buddhas expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles
Only as an expedient.
There is only the One Buddha-Vehicle.
The two [ vehicles] were taught only as resting places.

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

I’m a big fan of the now-departed TV series Fringe, in which parallel worlds play a major part. (Thank you, Netflix, for introducing me.) I bring this up because of what happens when Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi:

[F]ive hundred billion Buddha-worlds in each of the ten quarters quaked in the six ways, and all those worlds, including those intercepted from the brilliant rays of light of the sun and the moon by the neighboring worlds, were illumined [by great rays of light], and the living beings of those worlds were able to see each other for the first time. They said to each other, ‘How did you appear so suddenly?’

In each of the 10 directions – east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, north, northeast, nadir and zenith – the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the billions of worlds find their palaces illuminated twice as brightly as normal. The Brahman-heavenly-kings of each direction gather, and consider:

Why are our palaces illumined
More brightly than ever?
Let us find [the place]
[From where this light has come].

Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

The Brahman-Heavenly-Kings set off toward the light carrying trays of flowers and towing their palaces along with them. And when they arrive they see the Buddha on his lion-like seat surrounded by “gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kimnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings” and the 16 princes begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma.

As Brahman-Heavenly-Kings from each direction arrive they offer the flowers and their palaces to the Buddha and then sing their praises. I find great Brahman-heavenly-king Sikhin of the Zenith offers the best song. I particularly like the explanation of what happens when there is no Buddha in the universe:

How good it is to see a Buddha,
To see the Honorable Saint who saves the world!
He saves all living beings
From the prison of the triple world.

The All-Knower, the Most Honorable One
of Gods and Men,
Opens the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar,
And saves all living beings
Out of his compassion towards them.

There has been no Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.
Before you appeared,
The worlds of the ten quarters were dark.

The living beings in the three evil regions
And asuras are increasing.
The living beings in heaven are decreasing.
Many fall into the evil regions after their death.

They do not hear the Dharma from a Buddha.
Because they did evils,
Their appearances are getting worse;
And their power and wisdom, decreasing.
Because they did sinful karmas,
They lose pleasures and the memory of pleasures.
They are attached to wrong views.
They do not know how to do good.
They are not taught by a Buddha;
Therefore, they fall into the evil regions.

Now you have appeared for the first time
after a long time,
And become the eyes of the world.
You have appeared in this world
Out of your compassion towards all living beings,
And finally attained perfect enlightenment.
We are very glad.
All the others also rejoice at seeing you,
Whom they have never seen before.

Our palaces are beautifully adorned
With your light.
We offer them to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!

May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!

To be continued…

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

We begin with the assurance of Buddhahood for Subhuti, who will become a Buddha called Beautiful-Form in a world named Treasure-Born. Then Great Katyayana learns he will become a Buddha called Jambunada-Gold-Light. And Great Maudgalyayana learns he will become a Buddha called Tamalapattracandana-Fragrance in a world named Mind-Happiness. Finally, the Buddha adds that “five hundred disciples of mine” are assured of becoming Buddhas in their future lives.

In closing this chapter, the Buddha offers a tantalizing glimpse into what lies ahead:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

That previous existence occurred “a countless, limitless, inconceivable, asarpkhya’ number of kalpas ago,” in the time of a Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence in the Well-Composed world.

Yet I remember [the extinction of] that Buddha by my power of insight as vividly as if he had passed away today.

And in gathas:

According to my remembrance,
There lived a Buddha, an Honorable Biped,
Called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence,
Countless kalpas ago.

Suppose someone smashed
All the earth-particles
Of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
Into ink-powder.

He went, [carrying the ink-powder with him,]
And inked a dot as large as a particle of dust
On the world at a distance of one thousand worlds.
He repeated the inking until the ink-powder was exhausted.

Suppose the worlds
Through which he went,
Whether they were inked or not,
Were smashed into dust.

It is innumerable kalpas,
More than the number
Of the particles of dust thus produced,
Since that Buddha passed away.

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Sravakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Bhiksus, know this!
My wisdom is pure, wonderful,
Free from asravas and from hindrance.
I know those who lived innumerable kalpas ago.

Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence wished to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi but “could not because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind.” He sat motionless for 10 small kalpas.

I always enjoy the idea of the gods and heavenly kings helping out:

[Before he sat at the place of enlightenment,] the Trayastrirnsa Gods prepared him a lion-like seat a yojana high under the Bodhitree so that he might be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi on that seat. When he sat on that seat, the Brahman-heavenly-kings rained heavenly flowers on the area extending a hundred yojanas in all directions from that seat. From time to time withered flowers were blown away by fragrant winds and new flowers were rained down. [The Brahman-heavenly-kings] continued this offering to him for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued raining flowers until he passed away. “[When he sat on that seat,] the four heavenly-kings beat heavenly drums, and the other gods made heavenly music and offered it to him. They continued these offerings also for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued these offerings until he passed away.

Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence, the son of a wheel-turning-holy-king, had 16 sons before leaving home to become a Buddha.

The first son was called Accumulated-Wisdom. Each of the sons had various playthings. When the sons heard that their father had attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, they gave up the playthings, left home, and came to that Buddha.

The princes praise their father:

Seeing that you have peacefully attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
We, too, have obtained benefits.
Congratulations! How glad we are!
All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.

You are the Most Honorable One.
You have obtained the peaceful Dharma-without-asravas.
Not only we but also all gods and men
Will be able to obtain the greatest benefit.
Therefore, we bow and devote ourselves to you,
The Most Honorable One.